This is not how Joao Flick thought his debut in the Chelsea uniform would look like. The acquisition that officially signed this week in the loan deal from Atlético Madrid already started today (Thursday) in a 2:1 loss to Fulham and after 57 minutes in which he was one of the best on the field, he committed a serious foul on Kenny Tate on the way to a red card.
“Felix’s perfect debut ended in disastrous circumstances,” said Peter Smith, Sky commentator, “Graham Potter sees what is happening and finds it hard to believe the misfortune. Felix simply cannot commit such an offense.” At the same time Judy Morris commented: “Felix can’t have any complaints, it’s such a shame because he had a great game.” Jamie Krager also tweeted and stated: “He was the outstanding player until the moment of the red.”
Former referee Peter Walton gave his interpretation: “He just jumped into Kenny Tate’s legs, of course he didn’t mean to but it was too high an entry. The decision to send him away is correct, he endangered the opponent.”
Following the incident, Fulham’s Twitter account tweeted a tweet that was deleted immediately afterwards that read “Adios Joao”. The Fulham fans also stung the opponent, waving their hands when he left the field and chanting: “What a waste of money.”